Let’s be honest: Who amongst us has not run for their fucking lives through the streets of Allston, blissfully screaming away from O’Brien’s Pub and the chaos intersection of Harvard Avenue and Cambridge Street, past the pizza joint where Great Scott almost landed, and down that weird side street along the Mass Pike where drugs used to be sold before the ugliest slice of gentrification found its full fucking bloom?
It certainly makes “Phenomenon,” the new video from Miracle Blood, quite relatable as the Boston noise-punk trio take to the streets and parks and gas stations and grocery stores of Allston for a frenzied two-plus minutes of dizzying heaviness. The visual was directed by Matt Bass Media, who most will recognize from his work in fellow distortion-slingers The Endorphins.
“‘Phenomenon’ is about how overwhelming being ‘plugged in’ in the modern world can be,” says the band’s Andrew Wong. “We basically have all the knowledge ever at our fingertips, but it comes at us at a break-neck pace. Our attention is vied for 24/7 as we’re blasted with news, advertising, pop culture, and even misinformation at any given second. We see tragedies around the globe happen in real time and then it’s on to the next thing before we can even process it. There are so many things in the world that need help, need fixing.”
He adds: “But, meanwhile, we have our own lives to survive and, hopefully, enjoy. It can be paralyzing, and you end up feeling guilty about not knowing about or doing more. I think this is something many people experience, but it doesn’t get addressed often.”
“Phenomenon” was produced by Alex Allinson at The Bridge Sound & Stage Studio and mastered at Audiosiege by Brad Boatright. See if you can spot yourself in the background — maybe stuck in traffic at that fucking light outside where old Stingray used to be — and crank this shit to the high heavens above our beloved and decaying Allston Rock City.
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